The amendments failed on party lines, but Democrats got one of the things they were after all along — a voting sheet that lets them argue in November that Republicans voted to block women’s health issues. | Getty Images

Senate finally votes on hostile amendments, ends gridlock for now

ALBANY — The issue that led to gridlock in the state Senate over the past few days was settled on Wednesday, allowing the chamber to temporarily move forward with its normal functions.

Republicans allowed a vote on a pair of hostile amendments dealing with reproductive health and even let Democrats briefly speak on both of them before they were voted down.

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The amendments, which would codify Roe v. Wade into state law and guarantee that contraceptives are covered by insurance plans, were first proffered last Wednesday. Similar amendments have always followed a similar path — Democrats propose them, then get to highlight their priorities for a few minutes before the amendments get rejected by the 32-31 Republican majority. But the departure of Tom Croci (R-Sayville) for the Navy and the presence of Democratic Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul and her potential tie-breaking vote meant that the GOP tried desperately to avoid a roll call on the issue.

On Wednesday, however, Hochul stayed out of the chamber and Republicans let the usual process play out. Democrats moved to tack the amendments onto a pair of bills aiming to combat animal cruelty. Members then voted on whether the amendments were germane to the subject at hand.

“The underlying bill deals with torture of animals,” said state Sen. Liz Krueger of Manhattan, who argued the Democrats’ case with Deputy Minority Leader Jeff Klein of the Bronx. “I would argue that New York state laws are so antiquated that they are resulting in women risking their lives and in some cases dying because we don’t have the right law on the books, and surely that is germane if you are concerned about torture.”

The amendments failed on party lines, with even Republican John Bonacic of Mount Hope, the sponsor of the contraception measure, voting against them. But Democrats got one of the things they were after all along — a voting sheet that lets them argue in November that Republicans voted to block women’s health issues.

“It’s our way of letting people know that there are important issues that are not addressed,” Minority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins of Yonkers told POLITICO. “Finally we got a vote on women’s health issues. … And as you saw, I don’t have one Republican colleague who’s willing to vote in the affirmative for that. So we’re continuing to push, and people want to know where their elected officials stand.”

The chamber spent the rest of the day functioning as normal, and members passed 111 bills with little debate.

But there are still significant obstacles facing the chamber as it deals with a large volume of work in the eight remaining session days. For one, there’s no sign that Croci will return anytime soon, meaning that some degree of bipartisan cooperation will be needed for everything the chamber deals with in the immediate future.

And state Sen. George Amedore (R-Rotterdam) also began an absence from the chamber on Wednesday. While Republicans say he’ll be able to show up in a bind, this means that Democrats will have a 31-30 plurality in the 63-member chamber for normal operations.

“He had an extremely tragic accident with his in-laws,” Deputy Majority Leader John DeFrancisco said. “For him, there was no alternative. He has to be where he is now, and it’s a critical situation.”

So going forward, Senate Democrats will still be in a position to assert more power than usual.

“I can’t predict day-to-day, but the reality is we’ve always been pushing the things that are important to us and the things that we know are important to the people of New York,” Stewart-Cousins said. “We’ve got a few more days left of session, so I’m sure as things come forward, we will continue to push our issues.”

And might this push include more hostile amendments?

“Well, there’s always a possibility for more hostiles,” Stewart-Cousins replied.